Ligurian School
Rest on the Flight into Egypt
early-mid-seventeenth century
oil on canvas
Vatican Pinacoteca, Inv. 40794

General Description

This small-sized painting, delicately painted with the tip of the brush
and recorded in the 1742 Castelgandolfo inventory, was recently skillfully
restored by Claudio Rossi de Gasperis. It contains a delightful genre scene
such as Veronese might have liked and painted it. The cold hues and detailed
depiction of daily life scenes suggest the Ligurian school of the early
seventeenth
century. Among the pictorial novelties of this depiction of the Rest on the
Flight into Egypt, we have the details of Mary as a washerwoman and the
reading Joseph, his face half-hidden and pensive.

These domestic details are contrasted with a theological note of heavy
consequence. Characteristic of late sixteenth century tradition, the rendering of
the baby Jesus suggests future passion and death. He is lying on a rock
suggestive of a tomb slab. His arms are raised toward the two angel heads in
a gesture of helplessness and despair, or of oblation and resignation. His
face is marked with suffering and anxiety. These unsettling marks of
premonition disrupt the overall peaceful and idyllic atmosphere of this
genre scene ­ with the donkey peering from behind the tree, the crystalline
waters of the brook, the pyramids and palm tree in the background. The
mother instinctively seems to perceive the mood of the baby, while Joseph,
engrossed in his reading, remains unaware and emotionally distant.

The motif of the Rest on the Flight into Egypt was a very popular theme
in art, but known only since the second half of the fourteenth century. It
expresses not only the rest on the flight as such, but stands for the fact
that the Holy Family remained in Egypt for the duration of seven years
(Golden Legend). The Rest on the Flight into Egypt forms part of the broad
and much older theme of the Flight to Egypt. Based on the colorful legends
of the apocryphal Infancy Gospels, it also highlights the revelation of
Christ to other cultures.

Interesting Iconographical Details

1)

Mary as washerwoman may be
considered novel as genre scene, but her activity of washing is well known
in the apocryphal literature. In the Arabic Infancy Gospel, we read: “From
there they went to a sycamore tree which is called Matarea, and the Lord
Jesus made to gush forth in Matarea a spring, in which the lady Mary washed
his shirt. And from the sweat of the Lord Jesus she rang out there, balsam
appeared in that place.” (24)

2)

The bent palm tree in the
background suggests still another scene recorded in the apocryphal Gospel of
Matthew. Resting in the shade of a palm tree, Mary longs for its fruits. The
child Jesus sitting with a happy countenance in his mother’s lap, said to
the palm tree: “Bend down your branches, o tree, and refresh my mother with
your fruit.”(20:2) And immediately the palm bent its head down, and they
gathered from its fruit.

3)

Joseph’s unusual activity of reading in a book
may be related to the motif of the “doubting Joseph,” and his attempt at
understanding the mystery of this child. It could also be read as a pendant
to Mary’s intuitive perception of the child’s reaction. Joseph, who does not
understand, consults the Holy Book for more light.

This page, maintained by The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute,
Dayton, Ohio 45469-1390, and created by
Kris Sommers
, was last modified
Monday, 06/06/2011 14:18:32 EDT
by
Ajay Kumar
. Please send any comments to jroten1@udayton.edu.